Ethan Allen made his return to the ring after almost eighteen months out with knee injuries – taking on debuting Contender Jordan Saeed in the main event at the 229.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Quick Results<\/strong> — To watch this show, head over to RevProOnDemand.com<\/p>\n It\u2019s a little later in the month than usual – but we\u2019re back at the 229 in London\u2026 commentary comes from Andy Quildan and Gideon Grey once more, this time with some new headsets, and rather than recaps, I\u2019m going to switch things up\u2026<\/p>\n Sunshine Machine (Chuck Mambo & TK Cooper) vs. Michael Oku & Zozaya<\/strong> Anyway, TK and Mambo eschewed any kind of playing to the crowd here, hitting the ring straight away as they took on a debuting tandem in Michael Oku and Zozaya, who was making his 229 debut here, and it was safe to say that the core audience here had certainly seen at least his two outings with Oku last month.<\/p>\n After revealing matching gear, Zozaya enjoyed the best of the early going before he was caught out with a blind tag, leading to Mambo pushing him into a TK dropkick. That led to a good run for Sunshine Machine, although they struggled to stay on the same page for long, TK in particular was showing a no-nonsense attitude here, but Mambo was doing a good job focusing on Oku\u2019s arm, including going all Macho Man on it as he dropped it across the top rope.<\/p>\n TK and Mambo isolated Oku for a long stretch afterwards, before a tornado DDT bought Oku time to tag in Zozaya, who cleared house with a missile dropkick and shoulder charges. A spinning double leg takedown dizzied Zozaya as well as take down TK\u2026 things spill outside for a cannonball off the apron from TK, then a crossbody into the front row from Mambo.<\/p>\n Zozaya just about saved a springboard body press into the pile before Oku completed the set with a Fosbury flop. A stompy killswitch followed for a near-fall as the match entered its home stretch, with Sunshine Machine bursting back into life with TK and Mambo taking to the air ahead of a German Suplex Turbo Charged By The Power of Friendship.<\/p>\n Oku kicks away from a Gutterball, before Zozaya tried to pop out Mambo\u2019s knee with a series of Dragon screws. That led to a slingshot into a half crab, but TK broke it up like Ralph Wiggum being thrown through a window. A Gutterball nearly wins it before a Designated Driver saw some role reversal as Mambo couldn\u2019t haul up Oku because of the bum knee. Climbing up top barely seemed like the lesser of two evils there, as Oku countered out into a Destroyer before one last push from Zozaya led to the de Madrid al cielo death valley driver on TK for the win. ***\u00bd<\/p>\n Post-match, a despondent Sunshine Machine took the mic – leading to TK saying that he was fed up of them losing here\u2026 and the next time Sunshine Machine lost in Rev Pro, they were done as a team here.<\/p>\n Iker Navarro vs. Robbie X<\/strong> A diving boot at the bell saw Robbie X charge out of the blocks, taking Navarro outside for a handspring kick and a plancha before Robbie began to throw strikes. That looked to play into Navarro\u2019s usual game, but Robbie turned up the pace for a delayed senton atomico back into the ring.<\/p>\n Navarro raked the eyes to block an X-Clamation as he roughed up the former Cruiserweight champion\u2026 spilling outside again, the crowd scatters for a flying body press from Robbie X, before a snap X-Plex back inside almost won it for Navarro. A Beyblade kick from Robbie X and a standing shooting star press swings it back his way, before his face landed in Navarro\u2019s knees from a moonsault\u2026 but Iker begins to go for a Bull lariat, and that almost put Robbie away.<\/p>\n In the end though, a modified X-Claimation and a charging gamengiri into the corner proved to be enough for Robbie X to get the win – as I guess we\u2019re in a bit of stasis over the whole Cruiserweight division right now? ***<\/p>\n Ricky Knight Jr. vs. Goldenboy Santos<\/strong> A tentative start saw the pair exchange a lot of shoulder tackles, with Santos prevailing ahead of a diving uppercut and a nice military press slam on the former champion. RKJ responds by taking things outside for a chair wrecking tope, before RKJ began to pick him apart with chops and strikes ahead of the Vinny Jones\u2026<\/p>\n Santos gets hauled up for a stalling suplex as RKJ continued to rough him up, before a butterfly suplex from Santos launched RKJ into the corner. A late cannonball crushes Ricky for a near-fall as Santos looked to pick up a big maiden win, only to get caught with a back body drop and a Cactus clothesline as things spilled back outside. More blistering chops follow on the apron ahead of a brainbuster to Santos on the edge of the ring, while a 450 splash almost got RKJ the win.<\/p>\n A clubbering lariat from Santos forces an opening back into things, as he followed up with a Midas Touch lariat for a near-fall\u2026 before a springboard forearm to the back of the head and the Shell Shock from RKJ swung it back his way for the win. ***<\/p>\n Post-match, Santos wanted a handshake\u2026 RKJ walked off without taking up his offer, prompting David Francisco to hit the ring, trying to put it in Santos\u2019 head that this was the way things seemed to work in Rev Pro. Santos walked out on Francisco, seemingly not wanting to listen to what he was putting down\u2026<\/p>\n Connor Mills vs. JJ Gale<\/strong> Things started off hot with Connor Mills diving onto Gale during the entrance\u2026 before Gale returned the favour with a flip senton. In the ring, the pace remained high with a springboard tijeras out of the corner, before Gale overcame some shots from Mills and knocked him down into the corner.<\/p>\n Gale was looking to outpace Mills, but his leg\u2019s taken out from under him mid-springboard as Mills proceeded to target the knee, initially with a Dragon screw in the ropes, before a shinbreaker kept Gale down. An elevated Dragon screw off the top amplified things as Gale struggled to move with much pace.<\/p>\n Breaking free of a deathlock, Gale\u2019s able to take Mills out of the corner with a monkey flip, following with a spinning heel kick and a German suplex that bounced Mills off the mat. Mills corkscrews down after a springing uppercut out of the corner\u2026 and Gale continued to push on from there until he was caught with a head kick from Mills.<\/p>\n A leg lock and a PK from Mills kept him ahead as he went back to the knee of Gale, switching up elbows and uppercuts to the thigh before Gale countered out with a Destroyer. That bled into a rebound lariat from Mills, but a missed dropkick to the knee allows Gale back in, at least until he ate an avalanche Ki Krusher off the top.<\/p>\n Gale makes the ropes from a leg lock before Mills took him outside\u2026 this time a chair-wrecking stomp is cut off by Gale, who instead planted Mills onto some chairs with a Falcon arrow. A long-distance Gale Force cutter back inside nearly wins it, but Mills comes back in with strikes\u2026 he jarred his knee after a double stomp off the top, before a series of see-saw pins ended with the knee going again. The ref checks on Mills, but doesn\u2019t stop the match, and that led to Mills playing possum, winning with an inside cradle. A finish that I hated, although they tried to paint it on the referee\u2026 which again isn\u2019t a direction I\u2019d go in. A rough finish to a match that really didn\u2019t click as well as it could have. **\u00be<\/p>\n Cameron Khai vs. Luke Jacobs<\/strong> It\u2019s been a while since Khai\u2019s won a match – not since Richard Holliday back in February – so perhaps he\u2019s in need of guidance? Jacobs bullied Khai in the early going, laying in with forearms and chops in the corner before Khai forced his way in with shots and a standing moonsault for an early two-count.<\/p>\n Khai\u2019s attempt at a Pingshot cutter\u2019s just slapped away as Jacobs regained control, almost nonchalantly laying in with kicks and knees to the young Khai. A snap DDT flipped Khai around before he hit back with a dropkick, before a trip and a low superkick rocked Jacobs. That\u2019s added to with a deadlift Falcon Arrow to almost do the deal, before a Saito suplex folded Luke in half.<\/p>\n Khai remained a step ahead of Jacobs with a \u2018rana out of a powerbomb, before an over-the-knee brainbuster got him closer to the upset. Another crack at the Pingshot\u2019s thwarted as Jacobs was right back in with that pop-up powerbomb, before a wicked lariat and a brainbuster drilled Khai\u2026 who came right back in with another over-the-knee brainbuster.<\/p>\n Things boiled over with strikes as Jacobs began to overwhelm Khai, who finally managed to hit the Pingshot\u2026 but he doesn\u2019t go for the pin, and instead went up top. He\u2019s brought down with a superplex, before Jacobs hauled him up for a short, stubby screwdriver for the win. Khai provided more of a test than you\u2019d expect, but Jacobs\u2019 big hitting offence ended up being more than enough. ***\u00bd<\/p>\n Rhio vs. Lucia Lee<\/strong> Rhio dominated proceedings early with shoulder tackles, before a headlock takedown was finally escaped as commentary mentioned Lee was literally a \u201con the evening\u201d replacement. Waistlock takedowns kept Lee on the defensive, but she was able to find a way out with a snapmare and a low dropkick to the back of the head of the number one contender.<\/p>\n That brief offence was snuffed out by a Saito suplex and a shotgun dropkick from Rhio though, while a uranage backbreaker kept things going. Rhio\u2019s kicking out of everything Lucia threw at her at one, but Lucia kept plugging away, catching Rhio with a mounted sleeper hold.<\/p>\n Breaking free, Rhio\u2019s able to wipe out Lee with a spinning heel kick, only to get caught with some Sole Food. Again, Rhio kicks out at one as Lee lands a high kick in the corner, finally scraping a two-count out of Rhio before a pumphandle bomb turned it back around momentarily for Rhio, ahead of a nasty ushigoroshi and a package piledriver for the win. A valiant effort for Lucia Lee, but she was blown away here. ***<\/p>\n Post-match, Rhio put over Lucia for stepping up to the challenge at short notice, before calling out Dani Luna for the rearranged title match on next month\u2019s show at the 229. Between now and then, Rhio\u2019s got a huge test in the form of Stephanie Vacquer at Fantasticamania UK at York Hall\u2026<\/p>\n Oskar Leube vs. Leon Slater<\/strong> Slater\u2019s able to evade Oskar early on, cracking the German with a rewind enziguiri and a handspring back elbow to take things outside. Scatter! A plancha\u2019s caught, but Slater had enough behind him to knock Oskar into the front row\u2026 only for Oskar to hit back by launching Slater into the side of the ring.<\/p>\n Back inside, Oskar wore down Slater with a cravat, then a modified chinlock before Leon managed to build up some momentum, knocking Oskar into the corner with an enziguiri. A flying \u2018rana takes Oskar outside for another plancha, while a crossbody back inside almost ended things. On commentary, we also found out that bullying works\u2026<\/p>\n Another crossbody from Slater\u2019s caught and turned into a powerslam for a near-fall, before a back suplex out of a sleeperhold bounced Leon to the mat. Lofty sunset flips from Slater got him back in the game, as did a hammerlock\u2019d Magistral cradle, before a Blue Thunder bomb ragdolled Oskar for a near-fall.<\/p>\n A massive boot spun Leon to the mat in return, but a spinning enziguiri quickly has Oskar down ahead of a crushing swanton 450 for the win. Oskar was well and truly undone by Leon\u2019s offence, having trouble countering the speed\u2026 but that 450 proved to be more than the difference maker on the evening. ***\u00bc<\/p>\n Post-match, Leon exited stage left as David Francisco snuck out to try and take a shot at Oskar. After Francisco had hit some stomps and raked the eyes, Goldenboy Santos came out to make the sa\u2026 ah nevermind, he wipes out Oskar with a thunderous Midas Touch. The Portuguese lads double-team Oskar, with Francisco landing a Ruckus\u2026 Sha Samuels eventually made the save, chasing Francisco away, swinging his braces wildly. So wildly, in fact, Sha managed to bust himself open!<\/p>\n Jordan Saeed vs. Ethan Allen<\/strong> Allen was more than amped up for this, but wasn\u2019t letting the occasion get to him, instead measuring up Saeed as he ground down the debuting Contender. Saeed manages to catch Allen with a hiptoss and a shoulder tackle to bounce Ethan to the outside, with the crowd scattering almost out of habit.<\/p>\n Back inside, Allen\u2019s kick and forearm down Saeed in the corner, before Jordan was taken down for a back senton. A kick to the leg stagers Saeed, who stumbles into the corner ahead of a Cobra-ish clutch from Allen who got charged into the corner as Saeed finally broke up the hold.<\/p>\n Saeed snaps back with chops and stomps to Allen in the ropes, but Ethan\u2019s back with a crossface that ended with Saeed pushing to roll into the ropes for the break. Attempting to kick Allen from the mat just earned Saeed a leaping forearm blow from above, before things spilled outside as Allen hurled Saeed through the chairs towards the bar.<\/p>\n Narrowly beating the count, Saeed makes it back inside as Allen again laid into him\u2026 an Allen slam gets a two-count, while a guillotine choke almost put Saeed out\u2026 until he powered up with a suplex to free himself. Clotheslines from Saeed carved out an opening, but he got caught up top by Allen ahead of a butterfly superplex for a near-fall.<\/p>\n Ethan keeps going with a charging knee to the ribs, before Allen escaped a Fireman\u2019s carry and maneuvered into a double armbar stretch, similar to Zack Sabre Jr\u2019s old Young Boy Killer to force the submission. This was a really solid showing for Ethan Allen on his return, but\u2026 ***\u00bc<\/p>\n Allen barely had time to breathe as Connor Mills charged out to attack him from behind. JJ Gale makes the save, sending Mills into the corner with stomps before Luke Jacobs ran out to attack anything that moved. He and Gale brawled to the back, allowing Mills to go straight for Allen with a simple chop block to the knees, leaving Allen laying at the show went off the air.<\/p>\n Coming out of this show, there was a feeling that this show was one of those \u201cright notes, played in the wrong order\u201d with the strong opening match being the highlight of the night\u2026 and nothing against Ethan Allen getting the main event for his big comeback, but when you\u2019ve got him taking 15 minutes to beat a debuting contender in Jordan Saeed (and on the same show where both title challengers were in similar roles), it meant none of those \u201cstepping up\u201d really seemed to stand out. Short, impactful squashes don\u2019t have to be old-school WWF Superstars \u201cget in, hit three moves, a finish and you\u2019re out\u201d, but not everything needs to be fifteen minutes and even.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ethan Allen made his return to the ring after almost eighteen months out with knee injuries – taking on debuting Contender Jordan Saeed in the main event at the 229.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Revolution Pro Wrestling Live in London 85 (May 12, 2024) recap - Ethan Allen made his return to the ring after almost eighteen months out with knee injuries - taking on debuting Contender Jordan Saeed in the main event at the 229.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[690,6,782],"tags":[6441,1627,1666,4791,4805,6920,4665,6816,6311,6187,6928,6465,4727,3733,6589,743,2845,4053,956,5669,754,6923],"class_list":["post-27864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-european-indies","category-reviews","category-revolution-pro-wrestling","tag-cameron-khai","tag-chuck-mambo","tag-connor-mills","tag-ethan-allen","tag-goldenboy-santos","tag-iker-navarro","tag-jj-gale","tag-jordan-saeed","tag-leon-slater","tag-live-in-london","tag-live-in-london-85","tag-lucia-lee","tag-luke-jacobs","tag-michael-oku","tag-oskar-leube","tag-rev-pro","tag-rhio","tag-ricky-knight-jr","tag-robbie-x","tag-sunshine-machine","tag-tk-cooper","tag-zozaya"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73vbt-7fq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/revpro-229-1200px.jpg?fit=1200%2C675","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27864"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27867,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27864\/revisions\/27867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nZozaya & Michael Oku pinned TK Cooper & Chuck Mambo in 20:00 (***\u00bd)
\nRobbie X pinned Iker Navarro in 12:39 (***)
\nRicky Knight Jr. pinned Goldenboy Santos in 13:59 (***)
\nConnor Mills pinned JJ Gale in 18:11 (**\u00be)
\nLuke Jacobs pinned Cameron Khai in 12:20 (***\u00bd)
\nRhio pinned Lucia Lee in 12:13 (***)
\nLeon Slater pinned Oskar Leube in 10:38 (***\u00bc)
\nEthan Allen submitted Jordan Saeed in 16:46 (***\u00bc)<\/p>\n
\nLast time we saw Sunshine Machine in Rev Pro, they were yet again on the wrong side of things, coming up short to the Grizzled Young Veterans. Since then, they\u2019ve been shedding gold, losing the GWF and Bodyslam tag titles in Germany and Denmark, which suggests that their need for reinvention may not be limited to Rev Pro.<\/p>\n
\nThis was Navarro\u2019s Rev Pro UK debut, having taken on Luke Jacobs in Barcelona last month\u2026 but unlike Zozaya, he didn\u2019t seem to have too many fans. Mugging off the crowd will do that to you.<\/p>\n
\nAnother Rev Pro UK debut here, as Goldenboy Santos was brought back after the Barcelona show\u2026 while commentary painted RKJ as someone who was out for himself after so many, even family, abandoned him.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s the last leg of an unofficial three-way feud that kicked off at the 229 last month with JJ Gale beat Mills and RKJ in a three-way\u2026 but everyone\u2019s beaten everyone else in subsequent singles matches.<\/p>\n
\nLeyton Buzzard was out for commentary as he continued to try and influence Cameron Khai\u2026 which meant Gideon was left with the equivalent of a Mad Catz headset.<\/p>\n
\nShortly before bell time, Rev Pro announced that Dani Luna was off the show due to travel issues – so Rhio\u2019s title shot would have to be rescheduled. In Luna\u2019s stead came Lucia Lee, who came up short against Nightshade last time out in Sheffield\u2026<\/p>\n
\nLeon\u2019s been undefeated since losing the Cruiserweight title to Jordon Breaks two months ago.<\/p>\n
\n945 days. That\u2019s how long it\u2019s been since Ethan Allen\u2019s been in a Rev Pro ring – with a knee injury later in October 2021 putting Ethan on the shelf, while a return at 2022\u2019s Royal Quest 2, teaming with Luke Jacobs to lose to Hiromu Takahashi and SANADA, ended up being something of a false dawn as far as a return. Yeah, pre-taped matches confuse that Cagematch listing\u2026<\/p>\n